White Heron Sarah One Jewett\'s

¶ … White Heron

Sarah One Jewett's short story "A White Heron" is the tale of a young girl named Sylvia who is developing her sense of self, loyalty, and values through her associations with the natural world around her. The story opens with Sylvia walking her cow home from pasture as dusk begins to set in the countryside. The author makes us of contrast in imagery throughout the story to illustrate the dilemma Sylvia must encounter. The first example of this contrast is in the first paragraph, when it states that "They were going away from whatever light there was, and striking deep into the woods, but their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see or not." Also, the author uses the words "dark" and "gray" often to describe Sylvia's features, including her eyes. These words are also used often to describe features of the natural world around Sylvia, including the plumage of birds and the limbs of trees. This commonality in imagery of Sylvia and her natural surroundings acts to emphasize her belonging to this world, and how she identifies more with natural companionship than with human companionship.

As the story progresses, Sylvia encounters a young hunter, who startles her and initially makes her uncomfortable. He tells Sylvia of his desire to find an elusive White Heron that he knows lives in the area, with the intention of hunting and stuffing it. "The Stranger," as he is called in the story, indicates "and I mean to spend my whole vacation hunting for it if need be. Perhaps it was only migrating, or had been chased out of its own region by some bird of prey." The latter part of this quote illustrates how the White Heron is a representation of Sylvia, since only a year prior she had migrated from the noisy, bustling city to the quiet peaceful countryside to live with her Grandmother. She was in a way "chased out" of the city by "some bird of prey," since there was a "great red-faced boy who used to chase and frighten her" in the city.

Sylvia develops a fondness for "The Stranger" as she spends more time with him, traveling through the bushes trying to find the elusive bird. "The Stranger" has offered $10 to Sylvia if she could give him any information regarding the whereabouts of the White Heron. Sylvia develops a great desire to please this new friend of hers, and concocts a secret plan, involving a tall pine tree, to locate the nest of the White Heron.

Before dawn, Sylvia sneaks out and heads for the tall pine tree and climbs to the very top of it, incurring scratches and bruises on the way. When she reaches the top, sunlight begins to appear, and "Sylvia's face was like a pale star" a top the tall tree. At this point in the story, there is a shift in imagery and tone, as the author uses words like "golden," bewildering light," "white sails of ships" to describe the "vast and awesome world" Sylvia experiences from this height. Rich imager is used to describe how the White Heron ascends from the dark hemlocks below and rises past Sylvia to a perch on a tall pine close by. This presents a parallel between Sylvia and the White Heron, as they both rose from the dark foliage below to great heights at the top of the pine trees, and Sylvia at this "knows his secret now," which is where his nest is, and she has information that would provide her poor family with $10.